street piano

Definitions

1. A piano placed in a public area to encourage passers-by to stop and play.
2. A mechanical piano used by street entertainers, operated with a crank that turned a wooden cylinder from which leather hammers were thrown against the strings.
   historical

Equivalents

Examples

“Who that has lived thirty years in the world has not discovered that Pleasure is coy; and must not be too directly pursued, but must be caught unawares? An air from a street-piano, heard while at work⟳, will often gratify more than the choicest music played at a concert by the most accomplished musicians.”

“I keep⟳ my countenance, / I remain⟳ self-possessed / Except when a street piano, mechanical and tired / Reiterates some worn-out common song […]”

“But hist! the [marionette show⟳] is going to begin⟳. A lad is grinding a broken street-piano under the stage⟳.”

CEFR level